Mower with sandblast cutting means



April 11, 1961 c. L. cooK 2,978,856

MOWER WITH SANDBLAST CUTTING MEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

CURTlSS L. COOK ATTORNEYS April 11, 1961 L COOK 2,978,856

MOWER WITH SANDBLAST CUTTING IVIEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.6

INVENTOR.

CURTISS L. COOK ATTORNEYS U d t e Patent MOWER WITH SANDBLAST CUTTING MEANS Curtiss L. Cook, Syracuse, N.Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Deere & Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Ian. 6,1953, Ser. No. 707,403

11 Claimst (CL-56 25) The present invention relates generally to plant cutting or disintegrating means and is particularly concerned with highway maintenance apparatus designed to cut or reduce plant growth, such as weeds, grass and the like, growing along the roadside.

- The object and general nature of the present invention is aprovision ,of novel means for cuttingor reducing plant growth along the roadside and especially means to 7 direct a blast of air and abrasive against the plant growth so that the latter propels the abrasive material into the plant growth with sufficient velocity to out or reduce the plant growth. A further feature of this invention is the provision of new an dimproved nozzle means whereby abrasive material may be carried by the tractor and controllably'delivered into the air blast to. perform the plant-reducing action. Further, it is a feature of this invention to provide means connected with the nozzle means and. constructed and arranged to pick up abrasive material front the side of the road or highway and forcibly propel the latter against the plant growth to reduce or disintegrate the latter.

industrial tractor 10 of conventional construction, having front wheels 11, rear Wheels 12, and suitable power actuated means that include a power take oif unit 13. Mounted at the rear of the tractor, as by the usual hitch links 14 and 15, is a compressor unit 18 that has a pressure tank 19, and an air compressor unit 211 driven in any suitable way, as by belt and pulley means 22, from the power take off unit 13 of the tractor. The compressor unit 18 may be of any suitable construction and, in one form of the invention, may comprise a tank and compressor that are capable of supplying and handling about 40 cu. ft. of air per minute at about 80 lbs. pressure per sq. in. Air pressure, under the control of valve means 25 is conducted from the tank 19 by a pressure tube 26 to a nozzle unit 30, The latter unit, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprises a nozzle head casting or body 31 having a discharge nozzle 32 into which a tube 33 extends the tube 33 opening into an inlet area 34 that in operation is under suction, or reduced pressure, due to the high velocity of air directed by the tube 26 through the nozzle section 32. t I

g The unit is supported on the tractor by a pair of vertical straps 36 connected, as by removable cap screws 37, to the body 31 of the nozzle unit. The upper portions of the supporting straps 36 are connected to VBIti-r cally swingable upper and lower link members 3Sand 39 that at their laterally inner ends are pivotally connected with the tractor. Preferably, but not necessarily, the link members 38 and 39 are in the nature of A frames so that the nozzle unit 30is capable of generally vertical movement relative to the tractor but is held against foie and aft displacement withrespectthereto. The nozzle section 32 isjremovably connecedto the body 31 bycap screws .41 or other suitable means, it being understood that in handling abrasive material, the nozzle 3 2 may be subjected to relatively rapid wear, and hence conse- These and other objects and advantages of thelpresent inventionwill be apparent to .those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description,

taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in ben sho wn by way ofillust-ration.

Inthe accompanying daawings: V

which twoem-bodiments of the present invention have .Fg l is lan view p-artly diagrammatic in chai acter,

showing the 'principles of the present invention as in:

qqrporated in .aIhighway or industrial type. tractor carry: ing -r.compressor and associated air blast means. 3

an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken 1 generally along the line 22 form of nozzle means. .;.,Eig. 3 is an. end. view ii-;'3;oflFig. 2. F i

Fig. 4-is a viewt similar toFig. 2, showingan alternate form of the present invention; 1 g a Fig- 5 is-a top view, taken generally along the line 5+5 ofFig; 4. v a

tak n-generall 5 the l ne Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the. parallel linkonFigs 1 and showing one i quent relatively frequent replacement may. be required.

The area of suction or reduced pressure, indicated at 34 in Fig. 2, is extended laterally inwardly and downwardly into communication with an inlet chamber 43 that is covered by a screening member in the form of a plate 45 having plurality of'ab rasive-screening openings .46 and upwardly extending end shoe sections 47 and 48-. The plate 45 is removably connected fotlanges' 51;..on the lower portion of the casting 31 by anysuitable means,

such as cap screws.53. Theshoe portions 47 and serve as guides and accommodate. sliding movement. of the unit'30 along'the surface of the'ground. i

In operation, as the tractor isdriven alongtheedge of the highway, the nozzle unit 30wpasses along :the ground just outside the pavement and thernoz zl e section 32 is directed laterally outwardly towardand generally from the roadside and drawn into the air blast, being 7 is a view similar tojFig. 6 showing the parallel link means connecting the nozzle means of Fi 4 with ,ferring first to Fig- 11 the principles of the. present inventioii have been illustrated as incorporatedrjnan then directed by the latter against the plant growth. Such abrasive particles have sufficient velocityimparted thereto by the air blast sothat theyreduce or disintegratetheplant growth contacted thereby. It hasbeen found that natural roadside drainage tends to deposit finer particles of sand, gravel, .cinders, and stone at a point just outside of the pavement, and by arr'anging the nozzle unit30 so that the plate 45 slidesalongt-his area of the shoulder, abrasive particles be readily picked up by the suction inl the nozzle unitandpropelled by-th air blast against the plant growth to reduce or disintegrate it, as desired.

It will be observed from Fig. 3 that when the orifice plate 45 is caused to slide over the ground, the movernent ofthe'l atter in contact with the ground will serve to provide abrasivefparticles that can be drawn into the air blast. If however, the character of the roadside shoulder is not that which provides the required amount or character of abrasive soil particles, then thearra'ngement'shown in Figs. 4-5 may be adopted, in. which abrasive from a hopper is drawn into'the air blast.

In the modifiedjform of the present, invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the hopper'60 (Fig. '1) is mounted along one side of thetr'actor andis arranged to deliver abrasive, such" as'sand and/or the'like, into a tube 61. The latter extends from 'the tank 60 to a flanged part 62that is fixed to the body 31 by the cap screws 53, the unit 30 being turned over or reversed through 180, as can be seen from Fig.4, so as to dispose the inner chamber 43 upwardly, whereby sand or other abrasives delivered from the hopper 60 into the tube 61 enters the suction zone 34 and isthus brought into the air blast delivered to the nozzle 32 by the air pressure tube 26. When arranged in this way, 'any'suitable means may be provided for supporting the air blast unit 30 'at the desired level.- For example, the links 38 and 39 may be connected with the tractor in anysuitable way.

3. A highway maintenance device for cutting weeds and the like at the side of the highway,'said device comprising the combination of a tractor, an air compressor supported on the tractor, means driven by the latter to operate said compressor, an air blastnozzle movably carried by the tractor and connected with the air compressor for receiving air under pressure therefrom, and means connected with said nozzle and energized by the associated air blast for picking up abrasive material from the side of the highway and delivering-it into said air blast. s a

4. The invention set forth in claim 3, further characterized by groundengaging slide means adapted to be moved along the surface of the ground for loosening soil means is removed.

" Preferabl I em 10 such abrasives as No. 6 screened y p y operate said compresson'an air blast'nozzle connected sand, which has a maximumdiamete'rof around 0.132 inch, which is considerably'largerthan particles used in conventional sand blast work. 'The larger abrasive particles are preferred for plant reductionwork since the relatively ,high velocity'air stream can impart suflicient velocity to such particles. to insure thatthey will cut or reduce'the plant growth throughout an acceptable cutting range "Since both the nozzle unit 32 and the ground plates 45 are subjected to considerable wear, it will be notedthat they are easily and quickly replaceable when necessary. a v -While I have shown and described above the preferred structure in which the principles of the present invention have been'incorporated, it is m be understood that my invention not to be limited to the particular means, shown and described above 'but that, in' fact, widely different means may be employedlin the practice of the broader aspects of mylinvention. For example, I may use awheel mounted towed power driven compressor,

which is usually afpart ofavailable road'maintenance equipment, instead of thetcompressor ofthe mounted type shown in Fig. 1. J

What I claim, therefore,'and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A highway maintenance device for cutting weeds and the' like at the side of the highway, said device com prising a mobile'support movable along the edge of the highway, a source of airunder pressure carried by said support, 'a nozzle for directing an air blast toward vthe lant' 'rowth atthe sid "of th hi h r l e a. g e 6 'means'support of the highway and toward -wh1chthe nozzle is dlrected,

and ground. engaging means supporting said nozzle a ing said nozzle on, the, portion of said support adjacent the edge of thehig'hway and in a posit ion close to-the ground and directed. laterallycutwardly of the mobile support generally .parallel tothe ground toward weeds 7. A highway maintenance device for cutting weeds and the like at the side of the/highway, saiddevice com} prising the combination of a'tractor, an-air compressor supported on the tractor, means driven by'the latter to with the air compressor for receiving air under pressure therefrom, means connecting said'nozzle with the tractor for generally vertical m'dvementrelative thereto and gen-j erally parallel to the'ground, said lastname'd'means in= eluding generally parallel links connected with thefltr ac tor and nozzle and" disposing said nozzle in a"po'sition extending generally directly outwardly from the tractor and generally parallel to the ground, said nozzlebeinig movable to different parallel positions, and means to supply abrasive material to said air stream for inclusion and the like at the side of the highway; said device comand the like atthe edge of the highway, and means conprising the combination of a tractor, an air compressor I supported on the. tractor,means driven by the latter to operate said compressor, an air blast nozzle movably,

carried by with the tractor and connected with the air compressor for receiving air under pressure there-from,

acontainerifor abrasive material carried on the tractor,

and eontluit,means connecting said container with said nozzle tqsupply abrasivetosaid air blast; l 4

prising the combination of a tractor, an air compressor supported on the tractor, means'driven by the latter to operate said compressor, an air blast nozzle 'connected I with the air compressor for receiving air under pressure therefrom,'mear1s connecting said nozzle with the tractor for generally vertical movement relative thereto and generally parallel to the ground, said last named'meansin eluding generally parallel links connected withthe tractor and nozzle and disposing said nozzle in a position ex tending generally directly'outwardlyfrom the tractor and generally parallel to the'ground, said nozzle being -mov able 'to dififerent parallel positions, and means to supply abrasive mat'erial' to said air stream for inclusion therein, so as to reduce the'heightof plants growing'at theiside 10. In' a highway maintenance device, for cutting weeds and the like at the side of the highway, the improvement comprising an air blast nozzle having an outlet, passage means therein including means forming a portion of reduced cross section, an inlet plate having a plurality of abrasive-screening apertures disposed over said inlet means, and means removably fixing said inlet plate to said 11. The invention set forth in claim 10, further characterized by upturned end sections on said inlet plate acting to accommodate sliding movement of said plate over the surface of the ground.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dodge Feb. 4, 1902 Templeton Dec. 5, 1933 Adkisson Apr. 29, 1941 10 Keefer Apr. 11, 1950 Morel May 23, 1950 Hale Oct. 16, 1951 

